In Search of a Velvet Revolution

By Fae MacArthur Clark

As a year which begun with cautious hope that a new US president might bring a new approach to Israel-Palestine negotiations draws to a close, the world seems increasingly to be coming to the realization "that the peace process has no clothes". For many this has been evident for quite some time but, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas essentially throwing up his arms in a statement to that effect, even the most optimistic anylists are finding it hard not to concede the point.

This year, however, does not merely mark the inauguration of a new US president and, perhaps, the end to the term of an old Palestinian one. Twenty years ago this month, the Berlin Wall was disregarded and dismantled by the very people whom it had separated for nearly three decades. Historically, this event is connected with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict via the chains of cause and effect which followed WWII and led both to the creation of the Berlin Wall and the state of Israel, two otherwise entirely unconnected spaces. However, some Palestinians would point to another connection - a second wall - the most recent link in the chain which created Israel itself. On the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Palestinians and foreign peace activists staged a timely reminder that there are still dividing walls around the world*. On two separate occasions, activists dismantled sections of the Israeli-built "separation wall" which ostensibly serves to protect Israel from attacks from within the West Bank. The wall, of which only 15% follows the "green line" which officially separates Israel and the West Bank, cuts through Palestinian settlements, cordoning off sections of the West Bank in which Palestinians must obtain permits to remain in their homes and from which they face difficulty accessing the remainder of the West Bank. The wall has been ruled illegal by both the International Court of Justice and the UN has passed several resolutions demanding its removal. Like its German counterpart, the "separation wall" serves as a graffiti canvas for protests against Israel and the wall itself. In stark contrast to the events of 1989, however, this year's activists were dispersed with tear gas and rubber bullets. Several were arrested.

These two protests, while small in scale and largely unnoticed by the international community, might give us some idea as to where the peace process might turn if political routes prove to be entirely exhausted. If such a people's response to this issue could prove as peaceful as the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the Velvet Revolution (the twentieth anniversary of whose first demonstration we celebrate today), and other events of 1989 then we might see some hope yet for this conflict. The question is, are these activists on the one side and the shministim and their allies on the other a sufficient movement to bring about such change? At this point, almost certainly not. In the future, however? One can hope.



* The wall between Isreal and the West Bank is not the only current wall likened to the Berlin Wall. Other such walls still in existance include the Korean demilitarized zone, the Wagah border crossing between India and Pakistan, the US-Mexico border fence, and, in virtual terms, the great fire-wall of China.